The Department of Health (DOH) has upgraded the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) Hospital in the City of San Fernando, Pampanga.
This development is expected to increase the hospital's bed capacity and expand health services for migrant workers and their families.
The DOH Health Facilities and Services Regulatory Bureau issued the OFW Hospital a Level 2 License to Operate.
This will allow the facility to increase its authorized bed capacity to 72 from 50 under its previous Level 1 classification, and to operate one Type 2 ambulance.
The hospital can now provide comprehensive and specialized medical services including an Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), operating and delivery rooms, pharmacy services, radiology, computed tomography (CT) scan, heart station, and lung station.
The facility initially operated as a Level 1 infirmary, similar to DOH district hospitals, which primarily focused on providing basic and primary healthcare services, according to OFW Hospital OIC-Medical Center Chief Patrick Louie Maglaya.
“Level 1 usually does not have an ICU and has limited services, but it is still a great help in primary healthcare. Now the OFW Hospital has been upgraded to Level 2 where we now have an ICU and special care units to address more complex cases,” he said.
As part of its expanded services, the OFW Hospital is also strengthening healthcare access beyond its main facility through the establishment of clinics under the Sigla Wellness Center initiative.
Clinics have already been opened at the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Building in Makati.
Additional sites are being planned at the DMW Central Office in Ortigas and the National Reintegration Center along Agham Road, allowing OFWs to access healthcare services without traveling to Pampanga.
In preparation for the hospital’s expanded services and the planned establishment of a Cancer Care Center and dialysis services, the OFW Hospital has also intensified its blood donation drive in partnership with the Jose B. Lingad Memorial General Hospital and the Philippine Blood Network.
The OFW Hospital is also coordinating with other DOH hospitals nationwide to strengthen OFW wards and expand access to healthcare services for migrant workers.
Wellness clinics are being planned in partnership with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, including in airport lounges.
Maglaya said that the OFW Hospital, which aims to reach Level 3 status by 2027, remains open to serve OFWs and their families, and assured that emergency cases even for non-OFWs are not refused in compliance with the Universal Healthcare Law.